This week’s Learning Inside Out focuses on young climate activists who are joining others in the fight for their future and making their voices heard. Many incredible young people are standing up and fighting for our planet. Knowing about and hearing from young people who resonate with your students will help motivate and inspire them to be part of the change.

The activities below will help students identify issues facing our climate and introduce them to various aspects of developing an action plan to organize within our communities and improve our climate resiliency!

Grades K-3

Greta and the Giants

This inspiring picture book retells the story of Greta Thunberg, the Swedish teenager who has led a global movement to raise awareness about the world's climate crisis. This picture book makes this important topic accessible to young children. Greta is a little girl who lives in a beautiful forest threatened by the Giants. When the Giants first came to the woods, they chopped down trees to make houses. Then they chopped down more trees and made even bigger homes. Greta knows she has to help the animals who live in the woods, but how? Luckily, Greta has an idea; she believes that no one is too small to make a difference and change the world.

Activities

• Read Greta and the Giants based on the story of climate activist Greta Thunberg
• Stand Up! Speak Up! provides a simple introduction to activism through the eyes of a young girl who attends a climate change march.
• What is Climate Change? is one of the big question's students can investigate using the Climate Kids website
• Get the students outside to participate in a Climate Change Scavenger Hunt

Grades 3-5

Old Enough to Save the Planet

Be inspired by twelve children from around the world stepping up to raise awareness against climate change. This informational picture book encourages students to look at their communities and act to make a difference. Learn more about the difference these activists are making through their work and the challenges they face. Students will be inspired by these young activists doing amazing things to save the planet.

Activities

• Read Old Enough to Save the Planet to learn more about 12 student activists who are working on climate change in their communities
• Use this lesson plan to discuss the role of a climate change activist
• Have students research a younger climate change activist and present their findings to the class
• Visit Kids Against Climate Change for ideas on how you can make a positive change in your community. Check out the What Can Kids Do? Tab for action ideas

Grades 6-8

Earth: It’s Everybody’s Home

In this climate education activity, students have a look at how young people are protecting our planet.

They discover more about the role of a Climate Activist and learn about how they are supporting Global Goal 13. Students use Google Earth tools to explore our natural world and learn more about youth activists for climate change worldwide. They discuss different actions they can take to tackle climate change.

Activities

• View the Call to Learning Climate Activist video
• Complete the Global Youth Climate Activist Tutorial on Google Earth for Web. Students will learn more about the climate activists and their work to support Global Goal 13
• After exploring the Google Earth tutorial, discuss the role of a climate activist. Read about these Canadian teen climate activists
• Get outside and encourage students to discuss their views about climate change using the Where do you stand? activity

Grades 9-12

Youth for the Planet

A climate action resource kit to educate youth on climate change and inspire them to take meaningful actions at home, school, and in their community. Make your classroom lesson about climate change a meaningful one by focusing on how students can take climate action in their own community.

Activities

• Learn more about some of Canada’s leading young climate activists
• As a group activity in class, complete the Climate Change People Search together. Have the students summarize their collective feelings about climate change and what they can do about it as a class
• Use these sheets to help you choose and plan a project idea
• Design a t-shirt that effectively communicates the importance of climate change. The design could include a slogan and illustrations or icons that reflect the importance of being informed about climate change

About Learning Inside Out

Above you will find a selection of activities, broken down by various grade levels. These guides will be released biweekly and archived on our Learning Inside Out page, so you can always access the full catalogue.

Some of the activities have been modified from resources on our R4R database, simplified and adapted for both outdoor learning in the school yard or at-home as needed. The activity descriptions above should contain all the information and links that you need!

We want this guide to work for you, so your feedback is invaluable to us.

Please complete the feedback form below, or email us at info@LSF-LST.ca.

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Learning for a Sustainable Future (LSF) is a Canadian charity with over 25 years of experience working within the education system. Our Resources for Rethinking (R4R) database is an award-winning collection of resources that are peer-reviewed by certified teachers and connected to curriculum in all provinces and territories. R4R is recommended on many Ministry of Education websites.